Like Reagan, Palin Wants To Tear Down That Wall-- Well, A Different Wall

With an eye towards the 2012 presidential nomination, Sarah Palin seems to be veering away from the official McCain line. He's trying to lift himself out of the gutter she and Steve Schmidt have dragged the campaign into. While economics is far from his forte, rumors are that this coming week will be dedicated to him abandoning the KKK direction that campaign has gone in and trying to offer the middle class a basket of promises in return for their votes. My friend Roland said that if Cindy agrees to write every voter in the country a check for $100,000, McCain will win. Short of that... there's still Palin.

Some of the more over-the-cliff blogs of the extreme right are grumbling that Palin should strike at harder on the negative themes the Hatred and Bigotry wing of the base laps up. This morning CBS News reported on how she used state money to promote religion in Alaska. Nothing sounds sweeter to the Hatred and Bigotry wing than tearing down the wall that separates Church and State.

She likes talking about God's will. She thinks it's part of her role as Governor-- and she doesn't seem cognizant that some citizens might be offended that she uses their hard earned tax dollars to promote her whacky, fringy anti-Jesus religious concepts.

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as Wasilla mayor and Alaska governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state. The U.S. Constitution provides for the separation of church and state.

Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn and baptized again in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church when she was a teenager. She has worshipped at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports classroom discussions about creationism.

Since she was nominated last month as John McCain's running mate, Palin's deep faith and support for traditional moral values have rallied conservative voters who initially appeared reluctant to back his campaign.

Her participation-- as well as First Dude's-- at events with churches are paid for by the state, to the tune of thousands of dollars. Her over-the-top sessions with a mentally ill witch hunting fanatic who calls himself a pastor have become legendary.

Experts say those trips fall into an ethically gray area, since Democrats and Republicans alike often visit religious venues for personal and official reasons.

J. Brent Walker, who runs a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for church-state separation, said based on a reporter's account, Palin's June excursion raised questions.

"Politicians are entitled to freely exercise their religion while in office, but ethically if not legally that part of her trip ought to not be charged to taxpayers," said Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. "It's still fundamentally a religious and spiritual experience she is having."

Those gray areas and nuances aren't akin to the self-righteous broad strokes that a dedicated Know Nothing like Palin-- and her fans-- are all about. As a former-- perhaps former; who knows?-- secessionist, Palin has no use for the U.S. Constitution and has, in all likelihood, never read it. For Palin, "tearing down that wall" excites the mob and makes the applause-o-meter needle go all the way to the end. It works as well as falsies in the swim suit competition. I wouldn't expect someone like Palin to understand that part of the reason for America's greatness is how prescient the Founding Fathers were in keeping church and state separate. An America under Sarah Palin would look like what is happening in India today, where ignorant religionists are forcing their backward superstitions on everyone else-- or killing them.

See how many escapees from mental institutions you can pick out in the little film: